Irish Heritage Trail
The next time you are exploring Irish heritage sites in Massachusetts, visit these landmarks in the City of Lowell, a mill city built in the 19th century in large part by Irish immigrants. The idea to create an experimental new town of mills and factories came from Yankee industrialists and bankers, but they quickly realized…
The next time you’re exploring the Irish Heritage Trail or Boston’s Freedom Trail, be sure to stop by the USS Constitution ship and the Irish Heritage Trail in the Charlestown Navy Yard.The USS Constitution is America’s oldest commissioned ship, first launched on October 21, 1797. It is berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard, and operated by the US Navy, in partnership with the National Historic Parks of…
Dublin-born sculptor Stephen J. O’Kelly (1850-98) was a successful artist in late 19th century United States, creating several important memorials that still stand today. Born in Dublin, he studied art in Paris and opened a studio in London before immigrating to Boston, where he lived for much of his adult life. He had Roscommon roots, and his brother,…
Located along the Seaport District on Fan Pier and situated along Boston Harborwalk, the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse is a tribute to South Boston native Joe Moakley, who represented his neighborhood and district as a state representative, state senator, Boston City Councilor and U.S. Congressman for 48 years. The Moakley Courthouse is part of Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail, an…
American naval hero of the Revolutionary War, Commodore John Barry died on September 13, 1803. He is buried at Old Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Philadelphia, PA. Considered one of the true military heroes of the American Revolution, Barry was born in Tacumshane, County Wexford on March 25, 1745. At age 15, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1760, and…
One of the most gifted 19th century Irish-American sculptors, according to art historians, was John Talbott Donoghue (1853-1903) , a Chicago native who lived in Boston in the 1880s and whose life and career ended tragically when he took his own life. Donoghue was discovered as a struggling artist by Oscar Wilde during the famous…
Boston’s vibrant neighborhood of Charlestown has a rich Irish history that goes back to the American Revolution and continues today. There are several landmarks in Charlestown that visitors can explore along the Boston Irish Heritage Trail. Here are a few or our favorites. A Boston National Historic Park overseen by the National Park Service, the Bunker Hill Monument is…
America’s first great portrait artist, John Singleton Copley (1737-1815) was born in Boston on July 3, 1738. He was the son of Irish immigrants who emigrated to Boston in the 1730s. John’s parents, Richard Copley and Mary Singleton from County Clare, were married in County Limerick before emigrating to Boston. Right after their son John…
Born on June 28, 1844, John Boyle O’Reilly helped shape the history or Ireland and America in the late 19th century in powerful ways. Today, O’Reilly’s stature as a seminal figure in Irish and Irish-American history is particularly evident in his beloved birthplace of Dowth, County Meath; in Freemantle, Australia where he was imprisoned; and…
President John F. Kennedy’s visit to Ireland on June 26-29, 1963 was later described by his siblings as one of the most memorable and cherished parts of his presidency. Kennedy visited his ancestral family in Wexford and Limerick, and also stopped in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The trip was widely covered by the international media…
On June 12, 1937 a plaque dedicated to Captain Jeremiah O’Brien was unveiled at the Massachusetts State House commemorating O’Brien’s “distinguished services for winning the first navel engagement in the War of the Revolution and of his subsequent exploits in said war as the first regularly commissioned naval officer and commander of the Revolutionary Navy of…
Ancestors of the early Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony discouraged Jews and Irish Catholics from burying their congregations in local cemeteries the first half of the 19th century. Boston had long been known as a place where outsiders were considered with suspicion and hatred, due to their religion or ethnic backgrounds. According to Mass Moments,…
The family of President John F. Kennedy has deep roots in Massachusetts, dating to 1848, when all eight of JFK’s eight great-grandparents arrived in Boston, escaping the Irish Famine that was devastating Ireland. From Boston, Cambridge and Brookline to beautiful Cape Cod and the cities of Springfield and Holyoke in western Massachusetts, the Kennedy legacy…
Days before President Abraham Lincoln’s April 15, 1861 proclamation seeking 75,000 volunteers to join the Union Army, men from Boston’s Irish community met on April 10 to “express unflinching devotion to the Federal Government.” Irishman Thomas Cass of Boston’s North End immediately began recruiting Irish immigrants to form the Massachusetts 9th regiment. The volunteers came largely from…
On Monday, April 6, 1896, James Brendan Connolly of South Boston became the first medalist in the modern Olympic Games when he won the triple jump on the opening day of the Games in Athens, Greece. Connolly won the event – back then it was called the Hop, Skip and Jump – by jumping 44 ‘ 9…
In February, 1924, the Irish National War Memorial Committee in Dublin donated eight beautifully decorated folio volumes, containing information on Irishmen who died in World War I to the Boston Public Library central branch in Copley Square. Published in 1923 by the Committee of the Irish National War Memorial, the the massive project was undertaken…
Blacks and Irish have often, though not always, faced similar experiences in how they were depicted, considered and treated in New England over the past four centuries. When the Puritans settled in Boston in 1630, they believed fervently that they were the chosen ones, destined to build “a city upon a hill, with the eyes…
The Massachusetts State House has a number of beautiful and rare works of art and artifacts relating to the Irish-American experience, and is a featured stop along Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail. The incredible collection of art and artifacts is maintained and curated by the State House Art Commission. Here is just a selection of items worth…
Irish and Scots-Irish immigrants played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War, as evidenced by the number of public landmarks that relate to their heroics and sacrifice. From Commodore John Barry and General John Sullivan to Boston Massacre victim Patrick Carr and the Scots-Irish who fought at Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights, the Irish were…
John Boyle O’Reilly and Frederick Douglass were natural allies in 19th century New England, where they aligned on pressing issues of liberty and justice for all. In the early part of their lives, both men were fugitives, on the run from their captors as they tried to make their way to freedom. Both became writers…
Colonel John Glover, a local hero of the American Revolution, is memorialized on Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue Mall with an heroic bronze portrayal by Irish-born sculptor Martin Milmore. Described as an overlooked hero by the National Park Service, Glover was born in Salem, Massachusetts and became a successful sailor and maritime leader on Boston’s North Shore. His…
A story in the November 24, 1897 edition of The Boston Globe traces the evolution of the Thanksgiving Day proclamation between the years 1773 and 1785. It reveals that the Thanksgiving proclamation issued by Governor Thomas Hutchinson in 1773 was the last year the phrase “God Save the King” was used in Massachusetts. Hutchinson was…
America’s oldest commissioned ship, the USS Constitution, was first launched on October 21, 1797, and is berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard. The USS Constitution is operated by the US Navy, a partner of the National Historic Parks of Boston. Known as Old Ironsides for its durability during battle, the USS Constitution has some important Irish connections. During the War of…
Eugene O’Neill, one of the great American playwrights and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, died of bronchial pneumonia at the Hotel Shelton on Bay State Road in Boston on November 27, 1953, at age 65. His wife Carlotta Monterey was by his side. O’Neill is buried at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plains, a…
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